Feed-water heater and purifier



(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheen z.

G. H. WATSON.

' FEED WATER EEATEE AND PUEIEIEE. No. 408,865. Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

n (No Model.) v

G. E. WATSON. FEED WATER HEATER'AND PURIPIER.

lo.` 408,865. Patented Aug, 13, 1889.

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AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE ISI. WATSON, OF s'r. LOUIS, MIssOUEI.

FEED-WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,865, dated August 13, 1889. Application filed April 16, 1889. Serial No. 307,439. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. VATsON, a citizen of the United States, residing' at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed- Vater Heaters and Purifiers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofV the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a feed-water heater and purifier for steam-boilers, either stationary, locomotive, or marine; and it consists in providing a heater and purifier adapted to be located in the interior of a boiler with an inlet for feed-water in the upper part of one end of the heater and purifier, an outlet for heated and purified water leading from the upper part of the other end of said heater and purifier into the boiler and discharging at or just below the water-line, but above the boilerflues, and with a blow-off pipe leading from the lower part of the said heater and purifier at the end opposite the outlet into the boiler, thereby affording a space beneath the level of the feed-water inlet and outlet for the accumulation of sediment without obstructing the inward current of feed-water, and avoiding the ordinary necessity of frequently blowing off.

vThe invention also consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a view of a steam-boiler partly broken away, showing one form of my improved feed-water heater and purifier suspended therein, a portion of the heater and purifier being shown broken out at the end that communicates with the boiler. Fig. 2 is an enlarged partly-sectional side elevation of the feed-water heater and purifier shown in Fig. l. Figs. 3 and 4 are inner face views of caps that may be used to close the ends of the feed -water heater. Fig. 5 shows a steamboiler with another form of my feed-water heater and. purifier supported on the boiler tubes or flues. Fig. 6 is a partly-sectional side elevation of my feed-water heater and purifier made in detachable sections. Figs. 7, S, 9, and l0 are detached views of parts of my sectional feedwater heater and purifier. Figs. ll and l2 illustrate other modifications of my invention.

The letter A designates a steam-boiler, and B the feed water heater and purifier suspended or supported in the upper part of the boiler at or about the water-line. This heater and purifier B is of tubular form, either cylindrical, rectangular, or polygonal in crosssection, preferably six or seven inches in diameter, and may have a length nearly equal to that of the boiler.

As shown in Figs. l and ll, the device B is suspended in the boiler by means of hooks, brackets, or hangers C, attached to the boilershell; but it may be supported On the boiler tubes or fines D, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and in the latter case, if desired, the upper boiler tubes or flues D may be bridged by tubes or rods E, placed transversely beneath the heater and purifier.

.Feed-water is supplied to the heater and purifier B through a pipe F, that discharges into the upper part of Said device B at or near one end. As shown in the drawings, the feed end of the heating and purifying device B is closed by a cap G, Fig. 3, having two openings namely, an upper Opening a for connection with the feed-water-inlet pipe F, and a lower opening bfor connection with a blowoff pipe H-both of which pipes are shown as passed through the end of the boiler, though it is obvious that they may be passed through the top or side of the boiler-shell, if preferred. These pipes F and H are provided with the usual valves, as shown. In order to facilitate placing the heater and purifier B in position and disconnecting it when desired, the openings in the cap G are provided with nipples Y J J, that connect by means of couplings K K ,with the feed and blow-off pipes. These nipples and couplings should be examined from time to time and be replaced if corroded.

' The outlet end of the heater and purifier B, or that end which communicates directly with the boiler, may be closed by a cap L, Fig. 4:, having near the top an opening c for the discharge of the feed-water into the boiler. Into this lopening c may be inserted a nipple M, that connects by a coupling N with a pipe ICO or tube O, which may be extended down, as shown in Figs. 1,2, 5, and (,to or just beneath the surface et the water in the boiler. Instead of the cap Il and pipe O, the outlet end of the heater and purifier may be provided with an upwardly-turned bend I), that is preferably arranged to discharge beneath the water-line, as shown in Fig. il; or, shown in Fig. l2,an imperforated cap L may be employed and an opening Q provided in the upper side of the tubular heater and purifier at the end opposite the feed-water inlet. Vv'hen the tube O, nipple M, and coupling N are used, they should be examined at proper intervals and removed if found corroded, se as not to impede the iow of the feed-water- By referring to the drawings it will be seen that in each form of construction the feedwater is admitted into the upper part of the heater and purifier B at one end, and that it must pass to the other end of said device before escaping into the boiler. The heater and purifier may be arranged beneath the normal water-line, or partly or wholly in the stean1-space ot the boiler, its outlet, however, being at or beneath the surface of the water. In passing through the heater B the temperature of the water is greatly increased and its impurities are thrown down and retained in the heater and purifier, while the purified feed-water passes from the upper part ot the heater into the boiler.

By locating the feedavater inlet and outlet in the upper part of the heater and purifier and at opposite ends thereof, as shown, the sediment need not be blown out as often as is required with many devices of this character, as it is obvious that in my improved construction there will be a sufficient passage for the feed-water along and through the upper part oi the heater above the sediment, and without disturbing the same, if it is blown oft before accumulating to the level of the inlet and outlet. Vhen the device is used on locomotive-boilers, I prefer to blow the sediment out of the heater after the engine has been run into the round-house. The blow-oft valve can then be opened and the heater blown out gently, and impurities that may have escaped into the boiler will pass up through t-he pipe O into the heater and be removed through the blow-oft pipe. This will leave the water in the boiler of the locomotive in a purified condition ready to be converted into steam when needed.

It will be observed that with the outlet ot the heater and purifier located at or slightly below the normal water-line the device is al.- ways in readiness for eiiective use as a surface blower without requiring the water to be pumped up into the boiler.

In order to cleanse the heater and purifier l, it is only necessary to open. the cock ot the blow-ott pipe Il, so that water or steam from. the boiler will enter the device B and remove the accumulated sediment through the blow ofi' pipe. This operation will. also blow oft or remove any scum that may float on the surface of the water in the boiler, thus prevent.- ing the formation of scale.

The heating and purifying chamber B may be made in sections R, as shown in Figs. f3, S, and E), whereby its length can be readily varied to correspond to different lengths of boiler. These sections R can be securely connected in any convenient manner, as by collars S, sockets ',l, or other suitable and wellknown means for connecting tubular bodies.

It desired, a defiecting-plate V may be supported on the boiler-fines or oth erwise beneath the pipe O, for the purpose of inducing a surface current or currents toward said pipe by preventing a direct upward flow of? water thereto, and so vfacilitate the removal of senin in blowing oft the surface of the water in the boiler.

rlhe pipe O is extended only slightly below the waterdine. Its lower end does not extend to or below the boiler-flues. ly placing the plate V on the boiler-fiues beneath the lower end of said pipe O the plate will serve as a guard to prevent the inadvertent use of' an outlet-pipe of such length as would reach be low the boiler-fines. The liability of exposing the flues in blowing ofi is thus diminished.

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to a heater and purifier ofi' any particular shape and dimensions. In any form of boiler the device or chamber maybe either cylindrical or polygonal. In a flue-boiler it may be supported by the fines D, or it can be suspended by suitable means in any boiler. The tubular form of heater and puri tier, either cylindrical or polygonal, is preferred on ac' count of the facility ot' introducing it into an oblong boiler, where it can extend from end to end, if desired.

My invention contemplates suppl ving lfeedwater at the upper part of one end of a heater and purifier located in a steam-boiler, discharging the heated and purified water Yfrom the upper part of the opposite end of said device into the boiler slightly below the waterline, and blowing oftl the boiler and removing the collected impurities at the lower part ot' the same end et the heater and purifier into which the feed-water is supplied.

' What I claim as my invention isl. A feed-water heater and puri fier adapted to be located in a steam-boiler and provided with a feedavater inlet in the upper part of one end and a blow-oft pipe in the lower part ofi the same end, through which to discharge the impurities 'from the heater, and in the other end of the heater an outlet above the boilerflues, through which to discharge the heated and purified water, substantially as descrljied.

2. The combination with a steam-boiler and an interior feed\vater heater and purifier, of a feed-pipe leading in to the upper part of' the heater and purifier at one end, a pipe con- IOO IIO

nected with the upper part of the other end of the heater and purifier and extended downward in the boiler, a plate or delector supported beneath the lower end of said pipe,

.and a blow-oir" pipe leading` from the lower part of the heater and purifier at the end with which the feed-pipe is connected, Substantall7 as described.

3. The combination, with a steam-boiler, of a feed-water heater and purifier located in the boiler above the iiues, a feed-water pipe leading into the upper part of the heater and purifier at or near one end, an outlet-pipe leading,` from the upper part of the other end of the heater and purifier and extending1 below the normal water-line and discharging* the heated and purified water from the heater into the boiler above the flues, and a blow-oit pipe leading from the lower part of said heater and purifier at the end opposite the outlet into the boiler, through which to discharge the impurities from the heater and from the surface of the water in the boiler, substantially as de` scribed.

In testimon)T whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. WATSON. Tituessesr A. R. BROWN, H. B. ZEVELY. 

